Prosecutor Unhappy Medical Marijuana Shop Ringleader Was Released On Bail; But Is Secretive About Her Reasoning

[UPDATED at end] Prosecutors aren't happy that a federal judge gave bail to the San Clemente ringleader of an alleged illegal Southern California medical marijuana dispensary operation.

On Nov. 6, U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert N. Block overruled Assistant United States Attorney Christine S. Bautista's detention demand for 56-year-old John Melvin Walker, who was named in an October grand jury indictment of 14 suspects.

Block allowed for Walker's Nov. 7 release after a person named Bill Barkovitz paid a $200,000 surety bond and the defendant agreed to a long series of conditions: surrender of all firearms and ammo, a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew, no drug usage, remain in California and submit to random inspection by federal agents.

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Bautista's reasoning for seeking to overturn Block's determination is unknown. She redacted her explanation from public view on a document.

Walker's response to Bautista's move is also unknown; his defense lawyer filed his reply under seal.

R. Scott Moxley’s award-winning investigative journalism has touched nerves for two decades. An angry congressman threatened to break Moxley’s knee caps. A dirty sheriff promised his critical reporting was irrelevant and then landed in prison. The U.S. House of Representatives debated his work. Federal prosecutors credited his stories for the arrest of a doctor who sold fake medicine to dying patients. Moxley has won Journalist of the Year honors at the Los Angeles Press Club; been named Distinguished Journalist of the Year by the LA Society of Professional Journalists; and hailed by two New York Times Magazine writers for his “herculean job” exposing Southern California law enforcement corruption.